Phonology

Consonants

An /f, ʋ/ and /θ/ are allophones of /v/ and /ð/. When a /h/ sound occurs before a plosive or an affricate sound, they are then realized as preaspirated sounds. If an /l/ sound occurs before a /j/ sound, it is realized as a palatal lateral /ʎ/ sound. It is said that some western dialects of the language do not have a presence of the /ð/ phoneme.

Vowels

Short vowels

Front

Central

Back

Close

/i/

/y/

/ʉ/

/u/

Mid

/e/

/o/

Open

/a/

Long vowels

Front

Central

Back

Close

/iː/

/ʉː/

/uː/

Mid

/eː/

/oː/

Open

/aː/

Four diphthongs are included; /ie/, /yʉ/, /ʉi/, /uo/. A schwa sound /ə/ may exist as an allophone of various vowel sounds.[5]

Writing system

Until 2010, Ume Sami did not have an official written standard, although it was the first Sami language to be written extensively (because a private christian school for Sami children started in Lycksele 1632, where Ume Sami was spoken). The New Testament was published in Ume Sami in 1755 and the first Bible in Sami was also published in Ume Sami, in 1811.

The current official orthography is maintained by the Working group for Ume Sami, whose most recent recommendation was published in 2016.

Vowel length is ambiguous for the letters ⟨u⟩, ⟨ü⟩ and ⟨å⟩. In reference works, the length is indicated by a macron (⟨ū⟩, ⟨ǖ⟩, ⟨å̄⟩). In older orthographies, length could be indicated by writing a double vowel.

No distinction is made between long and overlong consonants, both are written with a double consonant letter. In reference works, the overlong stops are indicated with a vertical line (⟨bˈb⟩, ⟨dˈd⟩ etc.).

Grammar

Consonant gradation

Unlike its southern neighbor Southern Sami, Ume Sami has consonant gradation. However, gradation is more limited than it is in the more northern Sami languages, because it does not occur in the case of short vowels followed by a consonant that can gradate to quantity 1 (that is, Proto-Samic single consonants or geminates). In these cases, only quantity 3 appears. Consonant clusters can gradate regardless of the preceding vowel.

Cases

Pronouns

Verbs

Person and grammatical number

The verbs in Ume Sami have three persons:

first person

second person

third person

There are three grammatical numbers: singular, dual and plural.

Mood

Tense

Negative verb

Ume Sami, like Finnish, the other Sami languages and Estonian, has a negative verb. In Ume Sami, the negative verb conjugates according to mood (indicative and imperative), person (1st, 2nd and 3rd) and number (singular, dual and plural).

A reindeer herding dog must begin its training with a leash. Then one has to run from one side [of the herd] to the other and also on the area where they [the reindeer] rest, while others are eating. One must run around the herd with the dog [to be trained] on a leash, so that the dog sees how people do it. The trained dog then runs around the herd and does not allow any to slip away. Then there are often dogs that are not fully trained [and] who single out a reindeer and drive it away [i.e. to kill it]. Then one must put a leash on that [dog] and strike it.